Memories and Nightmares
by xFireSpritex
Summary: Everyone has secrets and sometimes those secrets are entire portions of that person's life. For Spencer Reid his relationships have always been private but now it's all on the line and a mistake could mean permanent loss. Spencer Reid/OFC.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Case

When Jennifer Jareau told the rest of the BAU that a case had been assigned to them the team stood and entered the conference room as they always did, wondering what type of killer they'd be up against this time. After Emily's "reincarnation" and JJ's promotion the team finally felt whole again so they moved comfortably into their seats, preparing their minds for the worst but confident that they could catch whoever was committing the crimes.

Penelope Garcia sat near the screen with the remote in hand, waiting until everyone was seated before begging. "This next case is taking us all the way back to Sin City folks," she said as she turned in her chair slightly and clicked the remote simultaneously. Reid sat up a little straighter in his chair at these words, wondering what type of killer was stalking his hometown.

The screen was instantly filled with brutal images of women whose bodies had been cut in precise lines, the skin torn open easily by whatever blade the unsub had used. "In the past month two young women were found dead on the side of the road, their bodies sliced open approximately thirty times each and each woman was sexually assaulted. Also, the killer has been sending videos to the local police, sometimes hacking their systems and streaming live videos of his…attack."

Garcia cleared her throat at this as the team looked closely at the screen. "The first victim, Leah Carmichael, was found just outside the borders of Las Vegas on the side of highway fifteen. She had been reported missing by her family and her job a week prior to her body being found. She also had a puncture wound in the side of her neck. Paralyzing agents were found in her blood stream. The second victim, Ella Nichols, was also found along highway fifteen, closer to the city than Leah Carmichael. She had only been missing four days before her body was found."

"The first victim looks like she was his first. Restraint marks on her arms and ankles, cuts in the skin and sexually assaulted," Morgan said, eyeing up the images. "But the second victim looks like he was getting comfortable, she's more bruised and there is no puncture wound, he's confident in his ability to control them now."

"Has anyone else gone missing since these bodies were found?"

"Yes," Garcia said turning to the screen. She clicked again and a photo of another young woman appeared on the screen. "Dana Zerch was reported missing two days ago."

"All of these women are similar in build and appearance. Light brown hair, brown or hazel eyes, light skinned, he has a type," Emily said, her eyes flicking over the women's features.

"He has an ideal, a final target," Hotch said, standing up and moving closer to the screen. These women represent someone to the unsub; he's going to end his game with her. All of these women are simply a warm up for him. Wheels up in thirty minutes."

The team all nodded and broke away to grab their go bags and headed to the jet. They all sat down and began looking over their case file, each of them focusing on different aspects.

"All of these women are of mediocre means but in some position of power," Rossi began, flipping through his notes. "Leah Carmichael worked as a teacher, Ella Nichols as a social services worker and Dana Zerch as an owner of a local restaurant. These women all had power over people but weren't rich and by all accounts they were well liked. The unsub might have issues with people in power or, maybe, just with women in power."

"He hasn't progressed into any higher levels of authority, but if he has an ideal we can assume her status is higher level than these women. Dana Zerch is still missing, maybe we can find her and the unsub before he reaches the point of attacking his ideal target," JJ says as her eyes scan the pages in front of her.

"Have the local police found any evidence or witnesses pertaining to the victims?" Reid asked.

At that question Garcia spoke up from the other end of the speaker phone. "Some things have been recorded, yes. A couple saw Leah Carmichael leaving the school and walking down the street, she appeared to be heading to a local café where she met with a friend every Thursday for coffee, she never made it there. Ella Nichols left work to visit a foster family, she never made it to the house and her car was found on the side of the road with a blown out tire. Dana Zerch was last seen by her employees the night before she was reported missing as she was locking up the restaurant."

"All of these women were victims of opportunity. While Leah Carmichael was following a set pattern she was walking in a crowded area, the unsub must have some sort of ruse to get her to come to him. Ella Nichols' car broke down, another opportunity in a crowded area. And Dana Zerch must have fallen for a ruse after leaving work," Rossi said, looking at each of his team members in turn.

As the plane took them from Virginia to Las Vegas there wasn't much discussion beyond the case and only Prentiss asked Reid if he was planning to see his mother if they had time. Reid simply nodded in response to this inquiry and returned his attention to the case files.

When they landed in Las Vegas the team split up, Morgan and Prentiss going to the scene where they last body was found, Hotch and Rossi going to Dana Zerch's apartment and Reid and JJ went to the local police department to talk with the Chief of Police. When Reid and JJ entered the building JJ noticed Reid was looking around at all the officers, as if looking for someone.

"Reid, is everything okay?"

He nodded and began marking on the tacked up map where the victims lived and where their bodies were found. JJ let him work his geographical profile, not wanting to interrupt him as his profiles had always helped locate the killers in the past.

She couldn't help but notice how Reid checked his phone much more than he normally would and how his eyes skirted around the department, as if hoping for something, or someone, to appear.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Missing Persons

When the call came in that Dana Zerch's body had been found the team all reconvened at the police department.

"He's keeping them for shorter periods of time, that means he's already devolving," Hotch said, his tone as stiff as ever.

"It also means he has another victim already, he hasn't dumped a body until he had another one," Rossi added.

As if on cue some commotion broke out in the main area of the police department. The team walked out of the conference room and into the bull pen. "What's going on?" Prentiss demanded of the nearest officer.

"One of our female detectives is missing, we sent a unit to her house when she was late for work and there were signs of a struggle."

"Who's missing?" Morgan said instantly, his dark eyes clearly filled with concern for another law enforcement officer.

"Chloe Danvers."

Reid, who had been quiet all morning, turned pale white and his eyes widened. "Chloe's missing?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly. The team turned to look at him, perplexed by his reaction. The officer looked at Reid and nodded slowly.

Reid's body began to shake and he began to pace as he muttered to himself. "Reid? What's going on man?" Morgan asked as he placed his hands on Reid's shoulders to stop the young man from walking.

"I know her."

Everyone stared at Reid in silence. Morgan frowned as he watched Reid closely. "You know the victim?"

"She's not a victim!" Reid shouted, glaring at Morgan.

The entire police forced stared at the young agent. "Reid? If you know her that means you can help us with profiling her as the unsub's prey and that can help us find him," Hotch reasoned, his voice softer than it had ever been in a work setting.

Reid nodded and immediately everyone set out to work, the entire force concentrated on finding the unsub now that one of their own was on the line.

The team watched Reid nervously, waiting for him to break down but the only visible sign of his distress was his even paler skin and his shaking hands. He was quiet as he worked, biting his lower lip constantly, making it bleed.

"Reid, you need a break," Rossi said, placing a hand on the young man's shoulder and offering a cup of coffee to him.

"I can't take a break," he insisted, his hands shaking even more as he looked at the map, avoiding Rossi's eyes.

"Yes you can and you need to. You're no good to us if you're stressed and exhausted."

"She has approximately two days before he kills her if he keeps to his pattern. Less if she's the one he's been after all along. I'm not going to take a break," Reid said, putting the untouched coffee down and continuing to work.

Rossi frowned and walked away, being stopped by Emily in the bull pen. "How is he?" she asked, her voice low.

"He's panicking. He's never mentioned her to me before and, from the look on all our faces, he hasn't told anyone on the team. But he's acting as if she's of extreme importance to him."

Emily nodded and walked into the conference room and stood between Reid and the map. "How do you know her?" She asked, her voice steady.

Reid tried to look away but Emily grabbed his arm, pulled his body around and made him look at her. "Tell me."

Reid's eyes began to fill halfway with tears before he took a deep breath, wiped the unshed tears away and looked at Emily.

"I met her at Caltech, she was the only other person I've ever met who graduated high school before the age of fourteen. She came there while I was taking sophomore level classes and she started with freshman classes."

"You're friends with her."

"More." Reid said, his voice cracking again.

-Flashback-

"So, you're the other underage student here," came a soft yet confident voice from behind him.

Spencer Reid turned around and stared at the girl in front of him, her thin arms loaded with books, the obvious weight of all the volumes making Reid concerned about her ability to hold them much longer.

"Uhm, yes," he said awkwardly, his eyes traveling over her from head to toe. "I'm Spencer Reid…" he said, not sure if he should offer his hand or not due to the fact that her hands were occupied at the moment.

"I'm Chloe Danvers, it's nice to meet you." She smiled at him, her eyes bright. Reid felt his heart skip.

At that moment on the quad of Caltech Reid knew she would be important.

AN: Thank you all so much for reading the story. I know this chapter is short but I had to set it up this way in order to give the next chapter some action. Enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Thank you so much to everyone who Favorited this story or put it on their alert list! This might be the last update for a few days, we'll see. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

P.S. In this chapter things get a little...graphic. You've been warned.

Chapter 3: Torture

Chloe wasn't screaming, she wasn't pulling away; she was gritting her teeth, aware that she was probably doing untold amounts of damage to her jaw and teeth, but she knew better than to give the man what he wanted. He wanted her to be afraid and despite the adrenaline in her veins that told her that she was, in fact, afraid, she had to keep some sort of control over the situation.

"Who do you think you are?" the man taunted, circling, his eyes traveling over her body. He reached out and grabbed the collar of her shirt.

He pulled it quickly, ripping it from her body, sending buttons flying. "I know what will make you scream," he hissed, stepping closer to her. His hand slid lower on his own body as his other hand grasped a fistful of her hair. He tugged and she winced but she didn't yell out. He smirked. "I will make you scream."

She heard the hiss of a zipper and locked eyes with him, refusing to look away. She knew that deep down she wanted to cry out, beg him to stop. But she had seen what happened to that poor other girl who screamed when he approached her. She was cut from head to toe and her body was dragged away.

Chloe didn't even have a chance to learn the girl's name before she died. All she knew was that with the body count rising help would come soon.

The decision to call in the FBI for assistance had been made yesterday before she went home. She had meant to call him and give him a heads up but she was so exhausted after interviewing victim's families that she did not have the energy to lift the phone.

She regretted that now. She stayed up most of the night and looked over the case file again and again. She knew the man doing this was a sexual sadist and that he thrived off of fear. She knew he had a final target in mind. She never imagined it was her.

When he'd grabbed her in the parking garage of her apartment building she hadn't seen it coming. She was angry with herself for that but she knew what the profile, what he would say, so she knew how to stay alive. And as the man pressed into her, violated her, all she could do was stare at the wall opposite her and wait. Wait for the BAU to arrive in Vegas. Wait for Spencer to arrive.

She bit her lip, drew blood, and waited. When the man was finished he stepped back and stared at her. "Who is Spencer?" he asked. She stared at him, not daring to open her mouth. She hadn't realized that she'd slipped up, that she'd called out for him.

"Let's get one thing straight, bitch. I don't care who Spencer is. Spencer doesn't exist anymore. It's you and me. Got it?" he said, his words cutting through her.

She nodded slowly, keeping her eyes hardened as best she could. "What am I supposed to call you then?"

He laughed. "You want to know my name?" he asked, stepping forward, pressing into her again. She winced and locked eyes with him. He laughed. "Why not? You'll never get away and I'd prefer you to scream my name," as he said that he pushed in again. "Ben. Ben Stanson."

She stared into his eyes and he froze for a moment. "You will regret this," she spat. He laughed.

"No. I think your darling lover Spencer will," he said, stepping back. She watched him carefully. "How about we let Spencer know where you are? I bet he's worried. Let's send him a video, shall we?" Ben pulled the drawer out of the nearest desk and reached in, pulling out a small hand held camera.

"First, we'll send it to your boss," he said, his smile growing more sadistic. "Then to poor Spencer. Everyone has to know that you're mine now and that no matter what; you will never be able to get away. And if you try, I will kill you."

Chloe stayed silent and when he turned his back she closed her eyes, desperately trying to remember details of outside the building as she struggled to remain conscious after being knocked out from behind.

_She could feel the wind on her skin as it blew through the trees. He was half-carrying, half-dragging her from the car, up the walkway and through the door. _

_Her eyes had felt like they were rolling around in their sockets. She could see that they were in a normal little suburb. He turned quickly and yelled out, "My cousin! She just had surgery!"_

_Chloe couldn't hear the neighbor's response. Before the door closed she saw that they were near a corner. Her eyes were blurred but she saw that the road name had the word silver in it. She tried to think of the suburbs near Las Vegas that had street names with the word silver in it. However, once the door slammed shut and he dropped her unceremoniously onto the floor she blacked out._

_When she woke up she was on some sort of slanted table, tied to it, her arms strapped to her sides, her ankles secured. She was almost standing, but also leaned back against the metal surface. There was a similar structure across the room, the girl there was screaming at the man, calling him names, insulting him._

_Chloe tried to speak, to tell the girl to shut up but her mouth was dry, her throat raw. The man approached her, reaching into the desk drawer and drawing out a long, sharp knife._

_The girl screamed and Chloe shut her eyes._

When the man—Ben—turned the camera on and pointed it at her she looked into the lens, trying to swallow her fear again and wipe any look of worry from her face. Not only to keep Ben away but to keep Spencer from overreacting.

Ben sat the camera on the desk and reached for a ski mask he had on top of it. He pulled it on before he approached her. "If you even think about telling them my name," he warned, his voice low, a knife held comfortably in his right hand, "I will cut your throat open before a sound can leave it."

He held the blade to her throat and the torture began all over again.

AN: So what did you think? Please leave some reviews, they give me more reasons to keep writing and updating quickly!

Also, I'm aware that Chloe may fall into the category of a "Mary Sue" (a.k.a. perfect) character. Please, do not flame me or tell me this. I'm aware. If you don't like "Mary Sue" type characters then you may as well stop reading. She does have flaws, they will come up soon because honestly, no one real or imagined is perfect.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Videos

When the video arrived at the Las Vegas Police Department headquarters, dropped off at the front desk by an unnoticed man, the team immediately watched it.

Reid sat on the edge of his chair. Morgan stood behind him, a hand hovering over Reid's shoulder as the tape began to play. The girl—Chloe—didn't scream. Not when the blade was pressed to her throat and not when the man pressed into her. Reid's body was shaking and Morgan was worried. When the man stepped back he looked into the camera. "She's mine now. So, start looking for a new detective. And tell her main squeeze—what was his name? Oh, right," the man laughed. "Spencer. Tell Spencer that he missed out. She's a great ride."

The video went black.

Spencer vomited.

Morgan glared at the dark TV screen. The team was on edge.

No one was ready for what followed.

The video turned back on.

"She has something to say to you all. Honey?" The man stepped aside and zoomed the camera in on the woman's face. She was beaten, bruised and bloody and yet she had not yet cried out, screamed, or done anything to show fear. She was still alive because of it.

She picked her head up slightly. Her light brown hair was knotted and tinged with red. Her left cheek was swollen and purple. Despite the injuries she looked determined, not broken. JJ and Emily took each other's hands subtly and looked at Reid for a moment.

Spencer Reid watched the video closely, his eyes locked on his old friend. Spencer Reid was a man of facts, statistics and logic. His emotions existed, make no doubt about it, but he relied on his mind more than his heart. However, when Chloe was involved, his emotions were hard to control. When he saw her in her current state he felt his mind begin to battle itself.

As he watched the video guilt fought with sadness and with anger and with despair. He could feel his heart race and his blood boil as the man spoke, off camera. "Tell them, honey. Tell them how scared you are."

"No."

"Tell them how I've hurt you; beg them to find you, to save you. Tell Spencer you're sorry." He stepped back on screen and pressed a blade to her throat.

"Do what he wants," Spencer begged, knowing that those hopes were against the profile but his heart was ripping apart, watching her. Morgan's hand fell on Reid's shoulder as a tear fell from the younger agent's eye.

Finally, she screamed. "Spencer!" The unsub froze, clearly shocked. He stepped away from her, staring at her.

"18. 8. 11. 21. 4. 17. 0. 21. 4.

Her eyes locked on the camera.

"18. 19. 0. 13. 18. 14. 13."

The unsub raised the blade, putting it back to her throat. "What are you saying?" he shouted.

"8. 11. 14. 21. 4. 24. 14. 20."

The unsub pulled his other arm back and struck out, knocking Chloe unconscious. He approached the camera and got right in front of the lens. "I don't know what bull shit she was just babbling. It looks like I fucked the senses out of her brain." He laughed and the screen went black once again.

Spencer sat still for a moment, his mind going a mile a minute. His eyes widened and he grabbed a piece of paper, writing out the numbers in the order that Chloe had said them as his mind echoed painfully with the sounds of her scream and her shattered, broken, voice.

Then, he began to try and figure out the pattern. The team let him do it, Garcia trying desperately to track any electronic evidence. The cameras in Chloe's parking garage were out of order at the time of her abduction. No one had reported a man carrying or dragging a woman. The cameras outside of the police department couldn't pin point which person had brought in the video.

Garcia wiped her eyes feverishly, working every angle she could think of. Morgan, Hotch, Rossi, Emily and JJ watched the tape over and over again, looking for any clues.

Reid jumped up from his chair an hour later. He threw the paper and pen down. He pulled out his phone. "Garcia, look up any property in the area belonging to someone with the name Stanson, the street name having the word Silver in it. Send the address to the GPS."

"Reid? What's going on? Emily said, grabbing his hand.

"I'm going to get her."

"Reid, that isn't the best idea. We don't know how to find him," Morgan said, his voice heavy with pity.

"I do. And when I find him. I'll kill him."

Morgan and Hotch ran after Reid as he left the building. JJ and Emily looked down at the pad of paper, the numbers across the top of the paper. Then, beneath it, halfway down the page, a circled message.

Silver Ave.  
>Stanson.<br>I Love You.

By the time JJ and Emily figured out that the numbers were a numerical translation of the alphabet Hotch, Morgan and Reid were already on the road.

Reid took the safety off his gun.

"Got it. Ben Stanson lives at 235 Silver Point Avenue in Hudson, Nevada."

Reid didn't speak and Hotch only pressed his foot down on the accelerator. Deep down Hotch knew that if Chloe wasn't alive when they got there, Reid wouldn't be Reid anymore. He didn't know the depth of their relationship but, despite everything Reid has gone through, Hotch had never seen Reid react this way, to any victim or unsub. He had never been bloodthirsty. Hotch drove faster, fearing the worst.

Author's Note:

Hope this update kinda makes up for the wait. I know the story seems to be moving fast but there is more to this story beyond the team's search for Chloe. More to come.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Memories

Chloe's eyes were unfocused. She was dizzy, nauseous, she knew immediately upon waking that she had a concussion. She wondered if her babble had been worth it. She didn't know if he'd sent the video in its entirety or not. He might have edited that part out. In that case, she would never be found and he'd never let her speak again. Maybe, he'd kill her now since he knew she couldn't be trusted. She wanted to close her eyes and pretend to be knocked out but she knew if she did fall asleep she could never wake up.

That thought terrified her. She'd rather go out fighting than go out because of a brain injury. And, if she kept fighting, maybe she had a chance, no matter how small it was, to see Spencer again.

She thought of Spencer for the millionth time since she'd been taken and tried to imagine his face in front of hers, forcing herself to think of him and of all the memories they shared in order to stay awake, to stay determined to live.

_She sat down on the small brick wall along the Olive Walk on Caltech's campus, pulling a book from her bag. She was reading about economics, determined to finish this library book by the end of the day and return it before closing. She had taken out a bunch of books earlier in the day and had set a goal of finishing at least three before closing. This book, The Machinery of Freedom by David Friedman, was interesting and a required read for her economics class. She would have to do a paper on it at the end of the semester but figured that she could do it tonight if she finished the book. It was the last of her required reading for that class and she was eager to move on to her other classes._

"_What do you think of that book?" came a soft, masculine voice. Chloe looked up and smiled as her eyes landed on Spencer Reid. He was fourteen now, a year ahead of her in both age and studies, but he took an interest in her after learning that they were both designated as gifted. Secretly she wished he was interested in her other than in terms of friendship and academics but knew she'd never have the courage to voice those hopes._

"_It's interesting in that it allows me to imagine a society independent of the government. But I'm only on page twenty so far," she replied, laughing a bit out of nervousness._

_Spencer sat next to her and smiled. "Economics class?" he asked, his voice light. She nodded. "Getting a degree in Social Sciences then, I assume."_

"_You assume correctly," she said, smiling back. A few students walking passed them stared at the young pair of geniuses, but neither of them paid any attention. They were both used to it by now and it was comforting to have someone else to be stared at with, at least._

"_Have you eaten dinner yet?" Spencer asked, smiling at her, a bit of hope in his eyes._

"_Not yet, no," she responded, closing the book slowly. _

"_Well, let's go grab some food," Spencer said, standing. The pair walked off towards the dining hall on campus, their conversation filled with language above both their maturity levels and concepts that most teenagers would never care about._

_To Chloe and Spencer, it was moments like that that made them intellectual equals._

_Chloe collapsed on the bean bag chair, her face twisted into a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "What happened Chloe?" Spencer asked as he walked into Chloe's room, having been let into the apartment by Chloe's mother._

"_It wasn't a date."_

"_What do you mean it wasn't a date? Didn't that guy, James, ask you out?"_

"_Yeah. He made it seem like a date to ensure I'd go. When I got there he put on this act about being stressed over a paper for his class. I knew right then that he was hoping I'd help him, or that I'd do it for him." She sniffled and wiped her eyes._

"_Why would he do that?"_

"_I don't know Spencer!"_

_Spencer flinched a little bit but stepped forward, sitting on the oversized bean bag chair next to his best friend. "I meant, why would he pass up the chance to be on a date with you? I wouldn't."_

_Chloe looked at him skeptically. "What do you mean, Spencer?"_

"_I mean that just because some dumb kid from your old school is enough of a jackass to make you believe he was interested in you to get homework help doesn't mean that all guys are so blind to how amazing you are." Spencer blushed once the words had left his mouth. When he caught Chloe looking at him curiously he babbled on. "Statistics tell us that men are more likely to use romance as a means of gaining some sort of advantage from their partner."_

_Chloe stared at Spencer and, seeing as how the majority of his statistics had nothing to do with teen dating, he stayed silent. "Did you just call me amazing, Spencer?"_

_Spencer's face reddened slightly. Chloe leaned over and kissed his cheek. "You're pretty amazing too, Spencer."_

_The pair smiled at each other, each feeling nervous but happy as they sat together._

_When everyone had finished singing Happy Birthday Chloe looked around at the people gathered in her family's small apartment. The only non-family members present were Spencer and his mother. Diana smiled at Chloe when they caught each other's eye and Chloe's smile grew. She was eighteen now and, as the joke went, she was only one degree behind Spencer which is how the friends had begun teasing one another in recent years._

_When Spencer smiled at her she felt her heart skip a beat. The crush she developed at Caltech hadn't gone away in a hurry and ever since her botched date at age sixteen she'd begun to look at Spencer romantically even more. However, due to their age and personal comfort levels nothing had ever transpired between the two beyond kisses on the cheek, too long hugs and nights spent asleep together on one of their couches. It was those nights that Chloe cherished the most, especially when Spencer would wrap his arms around her tightly._

_When the cake was cut and everyone was sitting around the table eating Chloe had to actually try to not stare at Spencer as he talked in statistics and facts to his mother about birthdays, cake and gift returns. She smiled to herself and sat back; glad that Spencer's mom had decided to join them. It was little moments like this with his mother that made Spencer the happiest._

"_What did you wish for honey?" Chloe turned and smiled at her grandmother, shrugging noncommittally._

"_I can't tell, Grandma, it won't come true then."_

_Her grandmother's eyes twinkled as she leaned closer to Chloe. "You don't have to wish for him, Chloe. He already loves you." With that her grandmother kissed her forehead and walked away into the kitchen. Chloe blushed slightly, wondering how her grandmother always knew. When she looked up again she noticed Spencer watching her, a small smile on his face._

_When the family had cleared out and Spencer was about to leave with his mother he came over and hugged Chloe tightly. "Happy Birthday Chloe. I'll see you tomorrow, with your gift, okay?"_

_Chloe hugged back. "No gift needed, Spencer."_

_He laughed. "Well you're getting one any way."_

_Spencer pulled back slowly and Chloe's eyes opened only a little bit. "Happy Birthday, Chloe," he said, his voice a little deeper than it normally was. Both sets of eyes were open now and they stared into the other._

_Spencer's face was flushed red and he took a step back. "Hey, where is my birthday gift going?" Chloe asked a playful smile on her face. _

_Spencer's lips quirked into a small smile. "Your gift is in your hands," he said, motioning to the first edition volume of Alice in Wonderland. _

_She frowned slightly and looked at the book. "This is an awesome gift, I've always wanted one. But I've been waiting for you to kiss me like that since the day we met."_

_Spencer smiled and reached out, pulling her into a hug. "Well, why didn't you tell me that?" he asked._

"_I was afraid to lose my friend."_

_Spencer kissed her forehead. "You'll never lose me Chloe. Never."_

_She smiled. "See, I told you, no gift was needed as long as I have you."_

_Spencer laughed. "So does this mean I never need to spend money on you?" Chloe laughed and nodded. "Well just cause I don't need to doesn't mean I won't. I've waited just as long to be like this with you. Four years is a long time to wait."_

_Chloe smiled and leaned her head against Spencer's thin chest. There were no more words to say other than, "Yes it is."_

_They stood there in his room, arms around each other, neither of them wanting to be the first to let go._

She heard someone calling her name and knew it wasn't Spencer but part of her mind hoped it would be his face in front of hers when she opened her eyes. Instead it was Ben.

"Did you have a nice nap, sweetheart?" She said nothing and he accepted her silence, smiling crookedly. "Are you going to tell me what those numbers meant?" More silence. "Fine then," he said, putting a knife to her throat. "Well, I'll just have to convince you," he said, moving the blade to her shoulder and dragging it slowly, pressing down. She could feel her skin rip open and knew that she'd pushed him to his limits. She was going to die. Her veins filled with adrenaline and she bit down on her lower lip, doing her best to not cry out. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction, even if it did mean she'd die faster.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Thank you all who have reviewed or added this story to your alert/favorite lists. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. And I also hope you all had happy, healthy and safe holidays.

Chapter 6: Blood

Spencer shifted his weight, one hand on the door handle of the car, the other grasping the gun that hung on his belt. Morgan shifted too, his position similar to Spencer's as they prepared to jump out of the car once Hotch pulled up outside the house.

Hotch's jaw was clenched as he turned down the street, stopping in front of the small home. Before Hotch could say anything, give any sort of command, Spencer was out of the car, Morgan behind him. Hotch jumped out too, radioing in to the local police that they'd arrived.

"I'll cover the back!" Morgan ran around to his chosen location, Hotch and Reid approaching the front door. Reid looked at Hotch briefly who didn't even speak. Without hesitation Hotch kicked at the wooden door, knocking it open.

Reid ran in ahead as Morgan came through the back door. They systematically cleared the house until the only space left was the basement. The three men regrouped at the basement door and fell silent.

No noise could be heard from the room below. Hotch stepped back to allow Morgan and Reid more room and in order to greet the back up that was pulling up out front.

A scream emitted from the basement and suddenly the door was ripped open, both Reid and Morgan rushing into the room below.

Everything was a blur. Reid and Morgan rushed down the stairs, their guns drawn, their eyes immediately falling on the man who stood before Chloe, the knife pressed into her skin, drawing more blood to the surface.

Morgan shouted at the man to drop the knife, Reid's eyes flashing between the man and Chloe who appeared to be unconscious. He refused to believe she might be dead. The blood that was pooling on her skin and on the floor said she could be gone but he wouldn't entertain that thought. Not for a second.

The man stared at the agents and then his eyes flashed to the stairs as more agents came down, guns drawn.

"You have nowhere to go, drop the weapon and step away from the girl!" Hotch raised his gun, taking his mark.

"If I go, she goes." The unsub pressed the blade to Chloe's throat.

"Not gonna happen," Spencer hissed. A gun went off. The man dropped to the floor, the knife clattered to the concrete.

Agents rushed forward to see the bullet had hit right between the man's eyes. Spencer ran to Chloe, searching for a pulse.

"We need a medic!" Spencer yelled his voice cracking as he found the faintest of pulses in her throat.

Morgan radioed for help while Hotch grabbed examined the dead man on the floor. Spencer placed his hand on Chloe's cheek, urging her to wake up.

"Please Chloe, look at me. Please open your eyes Chloe," he begged his voice breaking as he gently shook her. The medics came down the stairs and right to Chloe, forcing Spencer to step away.

When she didn't open her eyes Spencer felt his heart stop. The medics called her name and she didn't respond. Spencer collapsed to the floor, Chloe's blood seeping into his clothing. He couldn't even find it in himself to be repulsed by this, too afraid to lose her.

Morgan crouched behind Reid and wrapped his arms around the younger agent, dragging him away so that the medics could load Chloe onto a stretcher and get her to the hospital.

The team rushed to the hospital, no one sure what to say to Reid as he stared at his blood soaked clothing.

Then Spencer Reid did something he hadn't done in a very long time. He prayed.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: So sorry for the long overdue update. I've been working on writing but I have been editing and reviewing my chapters before I post. Hope you like it! More to come!

Chapter 7: On the Line

The bright lights in the waiting room were blinding Reid. His headaches had never quite gone away but now they were back with a vengeance, forcing him to borrow a pair of Morgan's sunglasses in order to protect his eyes.

The doctors didn't sugar coat anything. It'd be a miracle if she pulled through. She needed a large amount of blood transfusions to replace what she had lost. Her concussion had taken its toll as well. The pain of the multiple cuts and rapes would be enough to overcome without the added difficulties of dehydration, blood loss and potential brain damage. Reid shut down. He sat in the waiting room with the team, unaware of the looks he was getting for his blood soaked clothing. Emily had gone to the hotel to get him a change of clothes and after he changed he sat down and stayed silent, his eyes unfocused and distant.

The team sat in total silence, asking nurses and doctors as they passed if there was any news, if they could go in and see Chloe. The local police department came to the hospital as well, some to get official reports from the team about the incident that lead to the unsub's death, most to check on Chloe.

Reid was silent the entire time until he had to give his account of the incident. His gun had already been recovered, the bullet between the unsub's eyes a perfect match to Reid's gun. He didn't care that he'd killed the man. He just wished he'd hurt him a little first.

Reid stared at the floor or the wall but couldn't meet his team member's eyes. Morgan and JJ sat on either side of Reid, the rest of the team in the seats across from him. JJ held Reid's hand in her own, squeezing it once in a while. Reid didn't respond at all.

Nearly twenty four hours later when Morgan caught sight of a nurse walking towards them he stood up immediately and met the woman half way.

"Any news?" Morgan's voice was steady but his eyes showed his concern for the woman he didn't know and for his friend who waited to hear the woman would be okay.

"She's going to need to stay here a while and she's going to be out for at least a day. But it looks like she might actually pull through."

Reid's head picked up immediately and he rushed over to the woman. "Can I see her now?"

The nurse nodded. "I assume I don't need to tell all of you that you need to be quiet. She's been moved to the private room as per Agent Hotchner's request. Follow me this way."

The nurse turned and led the team down the hall to the room. Reid glanced at Hotch unsure of why his superior had done that for Chloe but he couldn't even speak at the moment so he followed the nurse quietly.

Reid slipped into the room unaccompanied by the team who held back out of respect for Reid's friend, the nearly lifeless girl that none of them knew.

Grabbing the chair by the bed Reid dragged it closer and sat down next to Chloe's bed. He did his best to not stare at her, knowing that if she were awake it would bother her, but he couldn't help it. The cuts and bruises on her skin drew his line of sight instantly.

Her once pale skin was blackened or torn in areas, held together by stitches in some, other cuts bandaged carefully. Her right arm was in a cast from her knuckles up to her elbow. Spencer knew there was damage to her ribs and legs that he couldn't see at the moment.

He took her left hand in his carefully and held it, bowing his head and staring at the hospital bed. Silence filled the room except for the whirring sounds of the machines. Spencer couldn't believe he was sitting here holding Chloe's hand.

She was always so strong, the fact that she had been taken had shocked Reid. The fact that she was alive was shocking him now, his entire body flooded with relief. All the other women had died. Chloe had come close to dying. Spencer knew that if she had died he would not have been able to forgive himself for not saving her.

Time passed slowly as Spencer anxiously sat in the chair by Chloe's bed. He knew that she wouldn't wake up tonight but he couldn't help but pray for her eyes to open and to hear her voice again. After some time JJ slipped into the hospital room and put her hand on Spencer's shoulder.

"You need to rest, Spence."

He shook his head. "I'm going to stay here till she wakes up," he insisted, not even turning to look at JJ.

"Okay. I'll make sure the hospital brings a cot or at least a more comfortable chair."

Spencer nodded and turned away from Chloe briefly to nod thankfully at JJ. When his eyes fell to Chloe again she turned and silently walked out of the room.

Once in the hallway JJ was surrounded by the team. "Is he okay?" Emily asked.

"No, but I think when she wakes up he will be."

"Let's hope so," Hotch said, his eyes flickering to the closed door. "Let's all go to the hotel and get some rest."

The team slipped in to say goodbye to Spencer one by one before leaving the hospital for the night.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Thank you to so many new followers! Reviews help too!

Chapter 8: Angel Eyes

Chloe woke in a daze, her vision a blur and her head pounding worse than any migraine she'd ever experienced. She felt like her eyes couldn't focus, as if she was looking through a camera lens that was being turned from close up to wide view constantly.

Her body ached and she could feel a dull pain in her right arm, as if it was being twisted. She knew that when the drugs wore off she'd feel the real pain of it. Blinking she turned her head gingerly, every muscle straining in protest as she did so.

Spencer was asleep in the chair next to her bed. He looked like he had fallen asleep in the middle of changing his position; his head tilted at an angle that Chloe knew would hurt his neck once he woke. She reached her left hand up to her neck, feeling for where the knife had cut her, wondering how deep the blade had gone. The stitches were too numerous for her to count by touch, she'd have to look in the mirror later.

Struggling to sit up Chloe bit her lip to stop the pained noises that begged to be released from her lips as she did so. She didn't want to wake Spencer.

Once she was sitting up (or, as up as she could be without any help) Chloe looked at the man by her bed. She smiled softly as his chest rose and fell. He'd found her.

"Spencer," she said softly, her voice raspy and weak. He twitched in his sleep slightly, his eyebrows scrunching together as if trying to decipher her voice. "Spencer," she said again, reaching her left hand out just enough to tap Spencer's knee with the very tips of her fingers.

He stirred slowly, first turning his head to look behind him, expecting to see someone there. When no one was there he turned back around, his eyes slowly widening as they met Chloe's.

He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. There were no words to express the heavy feeling in each of their chests. Chloe was filled with desperation and gratefulness, Spencer of surprise and relief. They couldn't express what they felt in words so Spencer simply stood and sat on the hospital bed and wrapped his arms around her.

Chloe returned the embrace as best she could. Neither one knew how long they sat there. When they pulled apart Spencer reached over and hit the call button on the remote to alert the doctors and nurses that Chloe was awake.

"They're going to want to look at you, make sure you're okay."

Chloe nodded. "Are you okay, Spencer?"

He frowned. "I'm not the one who was taken and…"

"Tortured. Spencer you can say the word. If I can say it you can."

"How are you so brave with all of this? You're acting like you had a bad flight between Vegas and Virginia."

"I'm able to handle it because you found me Spencer."

Chloe leaned over and pressed a feather light kiss on Spencer's lips before she pulled back. The doctors rushed in a second later and began checking her vitals, her wounds, her eyes, everything. Spencer was forced to step aside but he stayed in the room, moving so that Chloe could always see him.

The truth was that Spencer needed to be able to see Chloe just as much as she needed to be able to see him.

When the doctors finally departed the room Spencer immediately shifted back to Chloe's side. "The team is on their way. I tried to tell them they didn't need to be here but they insisted."

Chloe smiled softly at this news. "Damn profilers, stubborn as mules."

Spencer's lip quirked into a half smile but his strength and stability was shaky. Chloe sat there joking, something he thought he'd never see again. She seemed oblivious to the pain in her body. Spencer knew the medicine was helping with that and he wondered, briefly, what medicine she was being given.

Chloe reached for him and Spencer moved forward. "I always hoped I'd meet your team on better terms."

Spencer shook his head slowly, amused. "These are pretty good terms considering the circumstances."

Chloe nodded and the pair of friends stared into each other's eyes until a soft knock on the door reached their ears.

"Come in," Spencer called.

The door opened and before any faces were seen balloons were pushed into the room followed by a colorfully dressed Garcia.

"Hi, Chloe right? I'm Penelope."

Chloe smiled softly. "Hi Penelope, I've heard all about you from Spencer."

"Good things?" Garcia said, eyeing Reid.

"Only good things."

Garcia nodded primly and affixed the balloons to the other empty chair in the room so they didn't float towards any of the machines.

Next Morgan, Hotch, JJ, Emily, and Rossi walked in.

Chloe sighed as she looked at all of them. "I was just telling Spencer I wish I'd met all of you under better circumstances."

Hotch offered a rare smile. "We're glad we are able to meet you, no matter what the circumstance."

Chloe smiled and nodded.

"How are you feeling?" JJ spoke up from near the window, her hands clasped in front of her.

"Surprisingly not terrible, but I'm sure the drugs have everything to do with that. Wait till they wear off for a real answer." Spencer clasped Chloe's hand tightly.

"Can we get you anything? Magazines?" Emily motioned to the door, uncertain if she should run out for supplies.

Chloe shook her head, lacing the fingers of her good hand with Spencer's. "I'm alright, thank you."

"When do you get to leave?" Morgan asked, his voice soft.

"If it's not soon enough to your liking I'm sure we can arrange a break out," Rossi joked, causing everyone in the room to crack a smile.

"I can leave in a few days, so I may need magazines eventually. Just not now," Chloe smiled at Emily.

Emily nodded. "Cosmo, National Geographic or Vogue?"

"Can I manipulate the pain into acquiring all three?"

Emily laughed. "You sure can."

Chloe smiled at Emily before her gaze drifted back to Spencer's face.

The team fell silent as they observed the pair of geniuses.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Hey everyone! I'm so sorry that I've been such a slacker! I've been writing several stories (fanfic and personal works) and with my boring, terrible big girl job I have barely had time to sleep, let alone be a good fanfic writer and post new chapters. A thousand apologies for being a slacker.

Also, anyone else freak out about this season? My mom and I were shouting at the tv. (Clearly, we're classy.)

**Chapter 9: Staying**

Chloe stood beside the hospital bed, her actions robotic, automatic. She was packing up her bag with her things, the balloon that the entire team had signed attached to the handle of her bag.

"Are you alright?" Spencer said, stepping forward and standing across from her.

Chloe lifted her gaze and looked at the man before her. As always her heart raced when their eyes met. "I think so," she said quietly as she zipped her bag shut.

"I was thinking, yesterday after the doctor's told us you'd be discharged today, maybe I should stay in town for a while." Spencer's voice cracked slightly as Chloe stared at him.

"Why?"

"Well you're still injured; you'll need help with stuff around your place with an injured hand. I haven't visited my mother in a while and..."

"And you're scared that if you take your eyes off me I'll be hurt again?"

Spencer hung his head slightly but nodded. Chloe sighed. "There's no talking you out of it, is there?"

Spencer's face brightened. "No."

"Alright, let's go home then."

Spencer opened the door to Chloe's apartment and looked around. Nothing, except for the circumstances of his visit, had changed. Everything, down to where Chloe's shoes were kicked off, was the same.

He turned and smiled at her as she entered the apartment. "Chinese food?"

Chloe smiled softly. "Yes, please." She dropped her bag and collapsed on her couch, drawing her legs up to her chest. "Thanks for bringing my sweatpants and big shirt to the hospital Spencer. Exactly what I wanted."

Spencer smiled at her and winked. "I'm just glad I grabbed the right ones." With that he walked into the kitchen and went to the file holder that held all of Chloe's take-out menus. Finding the one he wanted Spencer let out a short but still distinguishable sound of victory and walked back into the living room, handing it to Chloe. "Pick your poison."

Chloe smiled softly and looked through the menu. "We should just get the usual."

Spencer nodded and called the number for the restaurant, placing the order they always got except, again, this time it was under different circumstances. Usually when Spencer stayed with Chloe they were happy, going to local haunts and enjoying themselves. Today, and for as long as he would stay with her, it would be under a less happy and most likely anti-social situation.

Spencer hung up his phone and sat on the couch next to Chloe who immediately shifted closer to her friend. "I'm glad you're here Spencer."

"Hotch said I could stay as long as I need to."

"What if the team has a case?"

"We'll figure that out if the team gets a case. Until then I'm all yours." Chloe laid her head on Spencer's shoulder, his arm immediately wrapping around her body.

The pair of friends sat in silence. The clock on the wall ticked each minute away. The deliveryman knocked and Chloe jumped sharply.

Spencer kept his arms around her, trying to soothe her. "One minute!" He called. Then his voice softened. "It's alright Chlo."

She nodded and rubbed her arms as if she was cold. Spencer stood and went to get the food, paying the man quickly and returning with all the food. "Are you okay Chloe?"

She nodded, her eyes unfocused as she stared right through him. Spencer sighed, put the food on the coffee table and knelt before Chloe. "Chloe, are you sure? I have never seen you this jumpy, not even when it was Freshman Free for All."

Chloe smiled but her eyes didn't sparkle. "That was a crazy day on campus. Anyone that was a freshman was terrified. I just figured that no one would mess with me, or you, because they were afraid that if they made us angry we'd never help them with work ever again."

Spencer reached up and brushed the hair out of her eyes. "I know. I was jumping all day; you only became jumpy after classes were done for the day."

Chloe nodded.

"What is the deal with this free for all thing? Upperclassmen have been running around campus and shoving freshman into bushes all day and shouting. Are they high?"

Spencer shook his head before looking around himself and Chloe for the tenth time in the last five minutes. "It's a freshman hazing ritual. Something ridiculous really and not as terrible as it could be but it's just a way to let off steam I guess. And then, next year, we supposedly get to do it."

Chloe shrugged. "I haven't been pushed today. You?

"No."

"I guess they're afraid we can sue them for assault cause we're young."

Spencer laughed, his higher pitched laugh as the thought registered. "You're right. Next year will be interesting though. We'll still be younger than most freshmen."

Chloe laughed. "It's cause we're too smart for our own good, Spencer."

He smiled, threw an arm around her shoulder and they headed to class.

As they approached their building Chloe smirked. "If an upper classmen gets close to me after class today I'm going to scream that I have my lawyer on speed dial." Spencer laughed and opened the door for her.

That night Spencer helped Chloe tuck her injured arm through the sleeve of a large t-shirt that had once been Spencer's.

Once she was changed Chloe smiled awkwardly at Spencer. "Never thought I'd need you to change my clothes," she teased lightly.

"I know. Usually I'm the one with the coordination issues."

Chloe smiled and turned to her dresser, grabbing her hair brush and trying without success to detangle her hair. Spencer laughed and walked over, taking the brush from Chloe's hand before directing her to sit on the bed.

When she did he slid so he was sitting behind her so that he could brush her hair out easily. Spencer worked quickly, not dragging out the moment as he would have liked. "Do you need it pulled up for bed?"

Chloe shrugged. "Usually I do but…"

"I know you, you're a creature of habit, just like me, it'll bug you if your hair is down." Spencer stood and crossed to the dresser, grabbing a hair tie before returning to his seat. He brushed her hair through once more, pulling it up into a low pony tail, doing his best to not pull her hair too tightly.

"Thank you, Spencer." Chloe turned and smiled at him.

"Of course. You should get some rest. I'll go set up camp on the couch, yell if you need me."

Chloe nodded. "Good night Spencer. Love you."

Spencer stood and leaned down to kiss Chloe's forehead. "Love you too."

He turned to leave the room, making sure Chloe was under the covers before he shut out the light.

"Ah! No! Please! Stop!"

Spencer jumped up and ran, half blind, into Chloe's room. In the moonlight he could see her thrashing in her sleep.

Rushing to her bedside he froze. He knew shaking her awake could frighten her more but he couldn't let her suffer in the dream anymore. "Chloe, Chloe wake up! It's me, Spencer, wake up! You're dreaming."

Chloe jolted awake. She whipped her gaze around the room, eyes landing on Spencer. "Spencer?" her voice cracked.

He sat beside her on the bed, gently wrapping his arms around her. "You were dreaming Chloe. It's okay."

Then, finally, Chloe broke down and cried.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Hey all, I'm so, so, SORRY, but the truth is, my computer crashed. And I lost files. And chapters, of this story. SO...here we go, a newly typed chapter, pulled from memory. I hope I can rewrite all the work I did.

Soon more will be up. I hope.

Chapter 10: Moving Forward

The next morning Chloe woke up in Spencer's arms, her head on his chest. She remembered breaking down last night after her nightmare. It had taken her hours to calm down completely and it had nearly been sunrise before she had fallen asleep once more. She had been exhausted, without energy to even dream again and for that she was thankful. She tilted her head slightly to look up at Spencer who was still asleep, his arms clasped tightly around her, protecting her. She studied his face, wondering how she had ever been lucky enough to meet him, someone to grow up with in an awkward situation as young geniuses and to have both come out as decent adults.

She could remember the feeling of the man hurting her but she also remembered the odd feeling of calm during the attack, knowing that Spencer and his team would get the man and make him pay. She had never wanted Spencer to kill anyone for her but in the end she was glad the man was dead. One more piece of scum off the earth. She knew Spencer would save her and lying next to him she knew that he always would save her.

After a few more moments of reflection Chloe slipped away from Spencer's body slowly and carefully, trying not to wake him as she did. Once her feet touched the floor she crept down the hallway to the kitchen and prepared a pot of coffee. Then she began to search the cabinets, hoping she had enough ingredients for pancakes. She smiled triumphantly upon realizing that although her cabinets and refrigerator were mostly bare she had just enough for a batch of pancakes. She stopped, thinking back to their visits before when they'd made breakfast, it had always been pancakes with something extra, blueberries and or chocolate chips. She rushed to her refrigerator and pulled out have a batch of blueberries and smiled. Then, she went to the small cabinet above the toaster over, her junk food cabinet and there, nestled against a box of sugary cereal, was a bag of chocolate chips. She'd intended them for her next surge of baking but today was more important.

Grabbing all the ingredients and placing them on the island counter she began to work. Her home might not have a lot of food in it all the time but she had enough for a decent breakfast for her and Spencer.

Spencer awoke with his senses in overdrive. He could smell the breakfast cooking immediately and could hear Chloe bustling around the kitchen as she cooked. He stood up and carefully walked down the hall to the coffee table where he'd left his glasses the night before and pushed them on his face he entered the kitchen.

Chloe looked at him and smiled at him from across the island. "Hi, Spencer."

"Morning. You're cooking." He sniffed the air. "You're cooking my favorite?"

"Both of them, and bacon."

"Wait," Spencer said, laughing lightly, "You're just released from the hospital after a traumatic experience and you wake up early to make blueberry pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes _and_ bacon?"

Chloe laughed. "You sound shocked as if I've never cooked before."

"I thought I was staying here to take care of you, not the other way around."

"You did take care of me last night. And I kept you up. So you earned breakfast."

Spencer laughed and sat at the kitchen table. He knew better than to try and help Chloe, he'd most likely get smacked with the spatula for his efforts.

"There's coffee brewing now, still take it with a hundred lumps of sugar?" She asked teasingly.

Spencer nodded. "You bet."

Chloe smiled. She was thankful that despite everything nothing with Spencer had changed. He was still the same Spencer Reid, loved sugar in his coffee, fussed over how _he_ was supposed to take care of _her_, and he still knew he'd be smacked with a spatula for going near the stove when she cooked for him.

"So, since I'm not allowed at work and you took off work this is like a vacation," she began.

"You sound as if you have a plan for our time off," Spencer said, eyeing her with mock suspicion.

"I do," she said, her voice becoming serious. "The bookstore."

Spencer laughed as she set a plate in front of him and one for herself across from him. She went back to the counter and returned with utensils and their mugs of coffee. Spencer smiled as she sat in front of him.

"Thank you Chloe, you didn't have to do this."

She smiled. "Yes I did." With that they began to eat their breakfast, enjoying the comfort of being near each other again. Spencer let out a groan of appreciation as he took his first bite of a blueberry pancake, saving the chocolate chip ones for last.

Chloe laughed lighted when she heard Spencer's noise of enjoyment. He smirked at her over his mug of coffee. "You look like the cat that ate the canary, Spencer."

He laughed. "Watch your phrasing, last time you said that I believe I was the cat and you were the canary."

Chloe blinked at him, her mind immediately going back to the time he was referring to. Spencer realized, a moment too late, that he had made that reference. Normally that wouldn't have been an issue but considering her recent experience he felt like a complete asshole.

"Chloe, I didn't mean to," he said, dropping his fork and reaching across for her hand.

She let him take her hand and squeezed his hand in return. "I know, Spencer. Honestly, it's okay. You I trust. Reminding me of things isn't going to break me."

Spencer shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I just don't want to be the one who makes you think about anything that happened. We saw a lot on the tapes but not everything. I know that." Spencer's jaw clenched as he spoke and he felt his stomach turn in disgust at the thought.

"Spencer, please. If I feel upset I'll tell you, but if you treat me differently you will probably upset me faster that way. I know we both are sickened by what happened. I can't imagine how it felt for you seeing it."

"Me seeing it is nothing compared to you experiencing it."

"Spencer, please, trust me." With that she released his hand and went back to her breakfast, determined to not give him a reason to worry. She'd already set up a meeting with a trauma specialist. She'd be fine, as long as Spencer doesn't worry too much about her, she'd be fine.

Spencer watched her secretly while he ate. He was looking for signs of trauma and he knew she'd hate to be profiled but he had to be sure she was okay. To be sure she could recover from this, to move on.

By dinner that evening Chloe and Spencer were bursting through her door with multiple bags from local bookstores and shops. Spencer had stopped off at a few specific stores to get a few things for his mother. He'd been surprised when Chloe insisted on visiting his mother with him tomorrow but he should have known better. After all, while Spencer has been chasing serial killers Chloe has been working hard on her own criminals but her proximity to Spencer's mother made it much easier for the two women to bond.

They both collapsed on the couch, their bags dropping to the floor and their shoes kicked from their feet. "I can't believe we closed down the book store and the pizzeria," Spencer said his voice amused and fatigued at the same time.

Chloe laughed. "Well the book store knows us by now, even if you're never here. And the pizzeria people were suspicious when we pulled out the books to read. Then when we took forever to weigh the options of food, well they were ready to pull their hair out. So when it was close to closing time, out we went."

Spencer turned his head sideways and looked at Chloe who was already facing him. His heart skipped a beat when their eyes locked but then she turned slightly and he spotted the ugly bruise on her cheek, the sight making his heart skip a beat for a different reason.

Anger flared in his chest at the memory of the images of Chloe's abuse. If he was honest he didn't mind Chloe's frequent nightmares, they interrupted his own. When he had woken up the first night to Chloe's screams he'd been replaying in his mind the image of the man violating Chloe, and his voice saying "she's a great ride."

He'd woken up a minute before Chloe had and her cries made it easier for him to focus on her, for his pain to be pushed away until he could properly process it after she was better. Right now his focus was on her, on making her better, making her feel safe again.

He couldn't truly know how everything was affecting her but he knew one part of it would alter her for her lifetime.

The rape would never be forgotten, the man's violation of her would never be erased from either hers or Spencer's memory. For Spencer the image of his friend, someone he loved more than himself and everything he owned, being hurt and broken down so completely would haunt him till the day he died. He knew that Chloe might never recover from it. If the two shared anything beyond their IQs it was their view on love and with that their view on sex. And that man had ruined the path Chloe chose for herself. She had decided to never be that woman that slept around, had multiple partners without love. Spencer too had always thought the same way, but when that man violated Chloe he destroyed a piece of Spencer as well.

_"I love you Chloe," he said, his hands shaking slightly as he held her smaller ones._

_She lifted her head from his chest where she'd been resting it as they danced in slow circles at her aunt's second wedding._

_"What did you say?" She asked, her voice cracking._

_"I said I love you."_

_Her eyes brightened with tears as they rotated slowly on the spot, eyes locked. "I love you too, Spencer."_

_When they kissed Spencer's heart raced. She'd said it back. She'd said I love you too._

Now, how would their relationship change? How could he show Chloe nothing in his heart had changed? Sure, distance had forced them apart physically but Spencer knew he and Chloe were never closer emotionally. After trauma though, how could he show his love, without making her want to run away? Spencer kissed her cheek over the bruise lightly, carefully, to ensure that he wouldn't hurt her. She smiled softly.

"I know, Spencer."

"Know what?"

"That you're worried. Worried about me breaking down, about us breaking down. That this would ruin everything…"

He stared at her. "I thought I was the one who was supposed to be supportive and confident."

She shrugged and locked eyes with him. "We've never been a pair to stick to clichés, besides, I knew it would take you days to say what I just did. I figured I'd get it out of the way."

Spencer sighed. He both hated and loved when she did those things for him, taking the pressure away from his anti-social nature and refocusing on the connection between them. He wanted to be able to help her but, even though she was the one who had, for lack of a better word, been rescued, he was being saved by her now. She knew him well enough to know that he would torture himself for days on how to breech the topic. Now she'd done it for him. He'd just have to continue it.

"I just want to be sure that you know nothing that happened to you has changed how I feel about you. I'm going to respect whatever boundaries you want to put up but I don't want you to push me away. We haven't been a couple in years so at least that's one awkward part we don't have to face but we are friends. Best friends."

"I know that," she said softly.

"I just don't want you to pull away from me after this. We've always been close, physically and emotionally and I can't stand the thought of sleeping on your couch for the rest of my trip but if that's what you want I'll do it. Right now, everything is up to you. I just wanted you to know that what happened hasn't changed any feelings for me."

Chloe smiled and laid her head back on Spencer's chest. "I know Spencer. Just like your past changed nothing for me, I knew you'd say this."

_Your past._

He knew she was referring to the time he'd spent struggling with Dilaudid, when he'd spent days using it to remember his past, the fuzzy memories his brain had locked away in favor of statistic and facts because memories could hurt you and facts couldn't. The drug allowed him to remember for a while. He had known then, even when his addiction first began, that she wouldn't leave him because of it and that she, above all others, would understand.

Now it was his turn to understand and he would. And they would somehow be okay.

He hoped.

She kissed his chest and laid her cheek over the spot. She smiled softly against his t-shirt. "I can hear your heart."

Spencer smiled.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: How to Heal

That night Spencer stood in Chloe's kitchen, music playing out of the radio as he moved around, preparing dinner. Chloe was in the shower as she attempted to clean her wounds again according to the doctor's directions. He kept the radio low to hear if she was in pain but so far not a sound except for the water hitting the tub could be heard.

Spencer was relieved that this morning they'd gotten that conversation over with but now was the time to put that loosely discussed plan into action. He had no idea, really, how to help her heal after what had happened. Sure, he himself had been held hostage before, but that was different. He hadn't been raped or cut. His addiction had presented a different type of challenge but with Chloe helping him and always being able, no matter what time it was, to answer her phone and talk him out of his desire for the drug he'd been able to attend sobriety meetings and continue on with his life almost on the exact same path as it had been on before.

This was different and if he was honest with himself, it was scarier. Addiction was one thing. A personal violation was another. Chloe had always been what most people would probably call a prude but Spencer knew the truth, she had respect for herself and her body. Spencer wasn't sure about every part of Chloe's life but he knew his own life with her well enough to know that what happened to her was more than just an attack, it was a fear she'd always had.

_"Chloe, why are you wearing that old, huge t-shirt?" Spencer asked, as he leaned on Chloe's door frame._

_"What's wrong with my t-shirt?"_

_Spencer smiled softly. "Chlo, you have a body under there, one I'd like to show off when we go out and make the upperclassmen hate themselves after snubbing you. But no one will see how beautiful you are if you hide under huge shirts with your hair in your face."_

_"You sound like my grandmother..." she said, tossing a sweat shirt back onto the bed before turning to face him. "Maybe you're right though. This is a date after all," she said smiling softly._

_Spencer nodded, smiling. He had on dark jeans and a button down shirt. It was Chloe's birthday and he'd been planning their date for weeks. She sighed._

_"What kind of place are we going to?" She asked, knowing he wouldn't tell her exactly where, she'd been asking him for the last week without an answer._

_"It's nice but not a fancy place. Just a bit dressy."_

_Chloe nodded. "Ten minutes?" She requested. Spencer nodded and moved into the room sitting in her desk chair. She went to her closet, grabbed the article of clothing she wanted and rushed to her bathroom, shutting it softly behind her._

_Spencer waiting patiently as she changed and when Chloe re-emerged his jaw dropped slightly. The dress she'd put on was simple, all black, but with the fabric hugging every curve she looked, for lack of any better word, sexy. She smiled shyly and walked over to her closet, putting her former outfit in the hamper and grabbing a pair of simple heels._

_She grabbed a purse and tossed her basics into it before smiling and turning to Spencer._

_"Better?" she asked, a light blush reaching her cheeks._

_Spencer could only nod. He wanted tonight to be special. He had a plan, after all._

_Chloe smiled and walked over to Spencer, standing close to him. "Ready to go?"_

_He nodded and turned, walking out of the dorm with Chloe, everyone in the hall turning to watch as the young pair walked by them. All eyes on Chloe. _

_Once at the restaurant just off campus Spencer and Chloe sat reading the menus and he could tell she was feeling uncomfortable from her body language. "What's wrong Chloe?" Spencer asked, reaching out and taking her hand in his._

_"Everyone's staring."_

_Spencer used his other hand to push the menu away from her face. "They're staring because of the fact that you're gorgeous and up until now they didn't know that because you hide behind your brain and baggy clothes."_

_Chloe shrugged. "And you don't hide behind your brain?"_

_Spencer laughed. "Chloe, I'm a skinny shrimp there is nothing to look at."_

_Chloe shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Spencer…" she said, her voice low, wavering a little._

_"Chloe I didn't ask you out to make you uncomfortable tonight. I asked you out so that we could have time together and if everyone else gets a chance to see how amazing you are physically as well as brilliant it's a bonus. Especially since they can eat their hearts out seeing us together and knowing they can't have you."_

_Chloe laughed and relaxed a little. "Why can't they have me?"_

_Spencer kissed Chloe's knuckles lightly. "That's an easy question—because I don't want to share you with anyone."_

_Chloe blinked. "Simple answer to give but harder to explain. So can you explain the meaning in that to me?"_

_Spencer sighed. It was his turn to be uncomfortable. "Chloe, we're best friends, we click when we're together, we've been out together a few times…I just…I wanted you to know that I'm not going to see anyone else." Spencer took a deep breath the laughed self-deprecatingly, "Not that anyone else would be interested in me. I just want it to be us, but if you don't want to be a couple and just be friends I can do that too. I just want to know what you want."_

_Chloe stared at him from across the table. "Spencer are you…asking me to be your girlfriend?"_

_Spencer nodded, his eyes falling to his lap where his hands were knotted together nervously. He couldn't look at her. He'd hoped this conversation would have been at the end of the night. He didn't know what to do now that all the cards were on the table at the very beginning._

_Her hands slid over his and he looked up, shocked. He hadn't even noticed her stand up. "Are you sure this is what you want?" she asked._

_Spencer nodded._

_Chloe kissed him._

Spencer could still feel the butterflies in his stomach when he thought of that night. He had been so nervous. Now he was nervous for another reason altogether. How could he show her he still loved her without pressuring her?

Spencer may be a profiler but he couldn't profile this situation and relationship properly. He couldn't figure out how to resolve the situation.

He needed help.

So, he did the only logical thing he could think of. He called for backup.

The next morning Spencer was with Chloe in the kitchen cooking breakfast when his phone beeped.

'Finally,' he thought as he fished the phone out of his pocket and checked the text message.

PG: Hey Junion G Man, sorry I missed your call, I was with Kevin last night… :-)  
>SR: It's okay. Garcia I need help. How do I make sure Chloe knows that I care about her without pushing her in any way? I don't want to scare her, especially after what happened.<p>

Spencer pocketed his phone and went back to cooking.

"Anything important?" Chloe asked, smiling at Spencer as she danced around him to get a paper towel.

"Garcia. She's just checking in. She says hello."

Chloe smiled brightly. "Tell her hi for me. Do they need you back for a case?"

"No, she just doesn't know what to do when I'm not there to be picked on. Morgan uses all his geek jokes on her."

Chloe smiled. "I liked your team. Are you sure there isn't a case? Isn't there always a case?"

Spencer shook his head and flipped the pancake. "Nope. They're reviewing cases now so there will be one soon but for now I'm all yours."

Chloe nodded and went back to the eggs she was preparing.

Her silence to that statement worried him.

His phone beeped.

PG: Have you tried just talking to her?  
>SR: I don't know if I can. We have talked about it already but…this feels different. It's emotions and relationships. That comes with added pressure…<br>PG: OHHHHHH… Uhhhh…. I don't know what to tell you my darling Dr. Reid. My only suggestion is to talk to her about it, even if you bring it up slowly. There is no other way to get the answers and decisions made without talking it out.  
>SR: It will be awkward.<br>PG: You're the king of awkward, sweetie. And she loves you anyway. Don't worry. Just be you. She loves you for a reason.  
>SR: Thanks.<br>PG: Anytime lover boy.

Spencer laughed and put his phone away again, taking the pancake off the pan and adding more batter. Sometimes, Penelope pointed out the simplest things in the best way that made sense. Sometimes, he knew, he just needed to hear it from someone else.

Now, he just had to be brave enough to talk to Chloe about it.

It was times like this Spencer wished he was like the other men on his team. Strong like Morgan, wise like Rossi, brave like Hotch. Instead he was thin, naive, awkward Spencer Reid. Who couldn't even talk to the girl he loved about something that needed to be talked about because he was afraid.

"Hey Chloe," Spencer said, hating how his voice cracked a little. She paused in her movements. His unsteady voice already gave him away to her.

"Yeah?" She kept her back to him.

"Are you okay with everything? With me being here?"

She stayed silent. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…after everything that happened, are you okay with me being here? We're usually very different when we're together and I just wanted to make sure you knew I didn't, that I don't…expect anything or want anything." Silence. "I mean I love you and I care about you and what happened hasn't changed those feelings or how I think of you at all but I don't want you thinking that I'm only staying here longer for any reason other than supporting you after what happened."

She turned the burner off and turned to look at him. "I know that Spencer."

He took a breath. "Good."

"I know what happened wouldn't change your feelings but, I don't know, maybe it changed mine."

Now it was his turn to be silent. To stare. "What do you mean?"

"Spencer…you and I have always been a pair, a couple, whatever. I can't be that with you anymore, not now."

"I know, that's why I wanted to be sure you knew I didn't expect that."

"Than what do you expect Spencer? That you being here would make me all better?"

He looked at her, hearing the annoyance in her voice. She was upset and, worst of all, he had no idea what he'd done to make her that way.

"No, I just didn't want you to try and get back to normal on your own, I didn't like the idea of you being here alone at night after what happened."

Chloe sighed. "Spencer, I can't be relying on you. There is no normal after what happened to me."

He blinked, he had never heard her talk like this. She wasn't trying to be positive, she wasn't accepting his help, she was mad at him.

He turned the stove top off. "So what do you want me to do?" He asked. "Leave?"

"Yes."

Spencer's heart stopped.


	12. Chapter 12

AN: Long overdue, I know! Apologies and grovelling at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 12: Heart Break

The following Monday Spencer Reid walked into the BAU bull pen and sat at his desk. He was twenty minutes early and no one knew he was back in town.

He hoped they would take his silent return as a hint that he didn't wish to explain what had gone on. Or why he was back. Or why he looked like he hadn't slept in days.

The truth is that Spencer had no idea how he would explain what happened between him and Chloe. Things had been okay between them until Spencer tried to reassure her. Somewhere in there he'd pushed a button he hadn't intended to push and he'd upset Chloe. So, she'd kicked him out of her place and sent him back to Quantico.

He'd only heard from her once, after he'd sent her a message saying his plane had landed safely, in which her only response had been "Good."

The knot in his stomach has been eating him up inside ever since she'd asked him to leave. He felt sick, he hadn't been able to eat and his coffee, which he'd bought on the way in, was getting cold. He hadn't even taken a sip of it.

Keeping his head down, eyes on his paperwork, he worked, reviewing notes and cases, looking over memos and notifications as he would on any other Monday. He heard the elevator doors open and turned to see Hotch walking in.

Hotch's face immediately creased with worry upon seeing Spencer and he stopped at the youngest agent's desk. "You're back, I didn't expect to see you so soon."

Spencer nodded and looked back down at his paperwork. "Yeah, change of plans." Spencer didn't know what else to say. He wanted to spill his guts to someone, anyone, about what had happened.

"Are you alright, Reid?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Hotch nodded. Silence filled the air between them. "I'm here if you want to talk about it, Reid. She'll come around, she just needs to process what happened." And with that Hotch walked away leaving Spencer Reid dumbfounded as to how his boss had seen right through his short answers to what had happened.

About fifteen minutes later the elevator doors slid open again to reveal Morgan and Garcia walking in with large coffees and a box of doughnuts in their hands. At the sight of Reid sitting at his desk they both stopped and Spencer kept his head bent to avoid looking up at them, knowing their eyes were on his back.

Garcia, ever on her toes, recovered first and walked over to Reid. "Hey there hot stuff," she said, leaning down and kissing Reid's cheek, leaving a slightly red mark on his pale cheek. She laughed. "Oops, sorry sweetie. We missed you around here, Boy Wonder," she said as she reached out and wiped off her lipstick from his skin with her thumb. Morgan, laughing along, walked by and clapped Reid on the shoulder before heading to his office, leaving the doughnuts on the filing cabinets by the stairs.

Reid smiled softly at the affection from Garcia. No matter what his mood, she managed to infect him with her happy personality. Next Rossi, JJ and Prentiss came in and without a word from any of them aside from a "Morning," they all headed into the break room for coffee. Rossi spared an encouraging smile when Spencer did look up just before he entered his office.

"Hey guys," JJ called into the bullpen a little while later. "We have a case."

Spencer stood and pulled his phone from his pocket and noted he had no missed calls or messages before pocketing his phone again and walking into the meeting.

"Morning everyone," Garcia chirped from her seat in the conference room.

"Morning," they all said back.

"Hold on to your hats and pack your rain boots kids, we're going to Bridgewater, Maine. It's a small town along the coast line and three eight-year old boys have gone missing since last night. The three boys, Tommy Anderson, James McCormick and Allen Stefanic went missing last night sometime between the hours of 2 AM when Deirdre Anderson, Tommy's mom, last heard Tommy's door open followed by the bathroom door and then the reverse, and 6 AM when she got up and found him missing."

"She heard him at 2 AM?" Rossi asked, flicking through his tablet.

"Yeah, apparently it's an old house and the doors creak, she's a light sleeper so she usually hears if Tommy is up in the night."

"Are the three boys related in any way?" Morgan asked.

Garcia nodded and turned to the screen she'd been controlling with her remote. With a click a picture of three boys in Cub Scout uniforms flashed onto the screen. "Tommy, James and Allen are best friends, all in the same Cub Scout troupe and play on a little league team together. The families are close, the kids have grown up together."

"Was there a note?" Reid asked, looking up from his paper copy of the case.

"No, no note at any of their houses. All their beds were made up to look like they were in them with their pillows under the sheets."

"Is it a possibility they could have run away?" JJ said, her eyes scanning the kids' faces.

"Everyone in town has said that these kids would probably be the least likely to run away. Good grades, good homes, great parents…there are a lot of other families in the town we'd have expected a run away from before these kids."

"Wheels up in thirty," Hotch said, as always, before walking out of the conference room.

Reid grabbed his paperwork and headed out, Emily right behind him. "Glad to see you back Reid," she said, nudging him as she walked by.

"Thanks Emily," he said as he headed to the bull pen to grab his things.

Once on the jet they began feeling out the case, Hotch delegating who should go where, as he always did. "Reid, Morgan, you go to the McCormick household, talk to the family, see if anyone noticed anything over the last few days."

Reid nodded and noted the house to go to and began reviewing the case data. He wanted to call Chloe but wouldn't let himself. She'd kicked him out. So he was back on the case, where she wanted him, so he'd do the case, throw himself into it, forget about what happened until he was home again.

He couldn't remember a time in their entire friendship when Chloe and he hadn't been talking regularly. He didn't know how to handle it but he knew one thing. He couldn't let it mess up his work. So, he'd do what he did best. Catch the monsters that stole kids out of their beds.

After that he'd work on healing his heart.

AN: I know I suck but between wanting the chapters to be "perfect," being fired from my job and being hospitalized with flu symptoms (after I got the flu shot, mind you) writing took a back seat.

The next chapter is almost finished, I swear!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Lost and Found

Morgan led the way out of the car and up to the house which was crawling with police officers. Spencer walked behind him, taking in the scene of concerned neighbors, their hands clutching their kids close to their own bodies. As if the person that did this would just show up and snatch them away too.

Reid entered the house, immediately looking around for the parents of James McCormick but he didn't have to look far. They were in the front living room, just off the entryway. Mrs. McCormick was sobbing on the couch, her husband with his arms around her looking like he was still in shock and a small, blonde girl sitting on the floor, hugging her doll to her. Morgan did the introductions and Spencer waited patiently to ask for permission to search the upstairs. Never upset the parents. They would just clam up and lash out at the police.

"Mr. and Mrs. McCormick, is it alright if I head upstairs and look around? If I can learn more about James it'll help us figure out why he may have been targeted."

The parents nodded numbly and Spencer quickly left the room, allowing Morgan to ask his questions while Spencer looked around the house. The family photos along the staircase wall showed the children growing up and it appeared that James didn't shun his little sister at all. Every picture with the two of them had James holding her hand or hugging her tightly.

As he walked past the little sister's room Spencer froze. Her name, like so many other kids, was hanging in sign form on the door.

Chloe.

Spencer felt a shiver go through his body and he walked away quickly towards the second largest room, James' room. In it was a bunch of toys and a fort of blankets. Everything was classic for an eight-year-old boy. He looked around, careful not to disrupt the fort Spencer knew the boy had worked on for so long. On his dresser was a collection of toy cars and one model train.

And a picture of the boys in their cub scout uniforms. The same picture Garcia showed the team. Spencer turned and stared at the fort. It was tied in places, not something most little boys learned to do without their parents or someone showing them how.

Spencer's mind clicked into place and he rushed downstairs. "Mr. and Mrs. McCormick, is James' Cub Scout uniform still here?"

Mrs. McCormick blinked. "I…I'm not sure. I can check."

"Please," Spencer said quickly looking at Morgan. Mrs. McCormick moved quickly and went upstairs to check for the uniform.

"What's going on Reid?"

"The three boys are all Cub Scouts. What if they didn't run away? What if they weren't taken? What if they went, willingly? On a camping trip?" Spencer kept his voice low.

"It's not here!" Mrs. McCormick yelled as she rushed back down the stairs. "His pack is gone too, his camping pack." Her eyes were wide. "I don't know how we didn't notice it before. What does this mean?"

Spencer locked eyes with Morgan. "Not sure yet."

"What've you got, Reid?" Hotch asked as everyone stood in the room they'd been given as a workspace at the local police department.

"All three boys were very active in Cub Scouts and were the top badge earners according to records from the organization. They were highly skilled for their age group and a two night trip in the woods with their troop was coming up. These boys relate camping to scouting, if their uniforms are missing and there is no break in or signs of struggle it's possible that the boys went willingly on a camping trip."

"Yeah but eight-year-old boys whose skills are also tied to the idea of a team and working together wouldn't go into the woods alone without someone they trusted." Morgan said, looking through the photos in his hands.

"Exactly. Someone they trust must have gotten them to go along with this. Their parents are home so that leaves only one person who could be with them," Reid said as he turned and wrote the name down on the dry erase board behind him.

Michael Clemens. The Scout Master.

"Michael Clemens has been a Scout Master for the county for the last fifteen years and for the last twenty years has been getting a prescription of Haldol every week. Until two months ago when he stopped picking it up."

"He's schizophrenic," Rossi said quietly. Haldol was commonly used in treatment and if Clemens had stopped taking it that meant he could be hallucinating again.

"He's delusional," Morgan said stepping closer to the dry erase board and studying the picture of the Scout Master. "So how do we find a delusional schizophrenic with three boys in the woods?"

"We need to check out his place and try to figure out what his delusions may be, they'll be our best clue as to how he'll react to things, including the boys trying to escape if they become scared."

"Would they become scared? Most schizophrenics aren't violent and if he's simply having delusions that don't frighten the boys, would they become that scared that they try to leave?" JJ asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"It would depend on his delusions but I don't want to wait and find out," Reid said.

"Alright, Reid, JJ, go to Clemens' house and look for clues. Morgan, Rossi, go to the Cub Scout office near by and get any details you can on him. Emily and I will check with his family and friends and I'll have Garcia pull up his financial patterns lately to see if we can get any further clues. We'll need local police and hiking specialists ready to help us plot out potential locations if he is indeed in the woods," Hotch said as he grabbed his folder of information and walked out of the room.

Reid and JJ rushed to the car, heading to the address Garcia had already sent to them.

"You think we can get these kids back safe?" JJ asked as she pulled the door shut behind herself and started the engine.

Reid glanced out of his window. "I hope so."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Neverland**

JJ and Reid entered the Scout Master's house and immediately began looking around. The small one bedroom house was disorganized and covered in drawings, sketches, maps and books on every single surface. The kitchen held no food and the place looked as though it hadn't been cleaned in months.

The searched for clues, hoping that they would find something to put them on the right track. Reid stared at the tons of survival skills books and flipped through them, looking for markings or dog-eared pages to see if anything specific had been noted.

"Reid! You might want to come down here," JJ called from the basement.

Reid followed her voice to the basement stairs and stepped down them, looking around for her. "Where are you JJ?"

"Back room!,"

Reid turned and looked, spotting the partially open door. He walked towards it and pushed inside, turning to see JJ standing in front of a wall of cluttered articles, maps, and scribbles on the wall.

"Oh my god," Reid said as he walked over to the wall and stared. He spotted several small campsites throughout the area were circled and a few paths deeper into the words were highlighted in red.

"Do you think he's in one of these areas?" JJ asked, pointing at them.

"Maybe that's where he started off at but he has to be deep into the woods otherwise him and kids would've been spotted by now. We need to call Hotch and get a search party set up at all these locations."

JJ took pictures on her camera phone while Reid called Hotch. This was the best clue they would have for now.

When the team met back at the police station they decided who would search where and headed out, each of them calculating in their head how much longer they could expect Clemens to be careful with the lives of his younger companions.

"Just so everyone knows," Reid called into the busy bull pen of people preparing to go search. "He is going to be less threatened by a woman than a man. If he's found and it looks like there isn't an option to wait much longer, please, at least have a female officer approach to distract him long enough until more help can arrive. It's risky but he will trust a woman more readily than a man right now because in his mind he is the only alpha male allowed to exist."

All the officers looked around at each other before springing back into action and heading to the map coordinates. Reid took a breath and looked through the photos JJ had taken one more time, staring at the mess of books and maps all around the home as he blindly walked out the doors of the station

"Do you really think he'll hurt the boys?" a police officer asked from the front seat of the SUV Reid and JJ were riding in to one of the farther locations.

"Not if he isn't threatened. If we can distract him and get him to believe we aren't threatening his fantasy he should be calm enough to be taken down without an incident."

Glancing in the rearview mirror the officer quirked an eyebrow at Reid. "Should?"

Reid nodded solemnly. "Nothing is ever guaranteed.

When the SUV reached the nearest to the camp ground they could go Reid and JJ hopped out and followed the officer's lead towards the site, careful to stay alert in case anyone was lurking in the woods beyond the camp ground.

"How deep is this spot?" JJ asked, frowning as she swatted a bug away from her face that seemed determined to be swallowed by JJ.

"About another half a mile down the path here," the officer said as he lead the way, lowering into a half crouch as he went, his gun drawn and ready.

JJ and Reid shared a silent look before picking up their pace, the earpieces they were wearing filled with chatter about everyone's location as they all neared the potential campgrounds.

A loud shout cut through the woods and the trio froze mid step. Grabbing her mic JJ hastily asked for a status update and, once it was confirmed that the kids hadn't been spotted at any other site, they knew the shout must have been a sign that they were the ones coming up on the kidnapper.

Quickly JJ called for backup and the three people crouched low, slowly approaching the clearing ahead, watching the ground carefully so that they wouldn't snap a twig or crunch a leaf.

"Hook will pay for this!" Clemens shouted, his clothes dirty and hair matted to his head. "Who does that no good pirate think he is? Coming into our woods to try and find the secret hideout!"

Reid stared at JJ who looked bewildered as she mouthed "Hook? Pirate?" It was then that Reid's eyes widened and his memory pulled up an image of a stack of books in the living room. On top was a copy of Peter Pan. In the distance of his mind he heard his mother's voice as she read the story to him about Peter Pan and the Wendy, Peter and John. About the Lost Boys, Hook, mermaids and Tinkerbell.

Clemens' eyes were wild as he stared around the clearing at the young boys. The boys, all three of them appearing scared but at least uninjured, stared back.

"We should hunt the pirates down!" Clemens shouted, his head snapping around at the sound of something rustling in the bushes just beyond the clearing on the other side from where JJ and Reid stood.

Reid, catching JJ's attention mouthed as carefully as he could. "He thinks he is Peter Pan." Motioning over his shoulder both Reid and JJ step back slowly until they are far enough away to talk and radio out their details.

Quickly Reid informs the other agents as to the new theory while JJ, ever the mother at heart, nervously strains her hearing for sounds of distress from the clearing.

"What can we do to get them out of there? How do we play along with this fantasy?" JJ said as she and Reid lowered their radio volume so low that they could barely hear the chatter.  
>"We have to get the kids out and we have to do it in a way that he is comfortable with whoever enters the clearing. Pirates were Peter Pan's enemies so any cop could be considered a pirate," Reid said thoughtfully.<br>"And the kids are the Lost Boys?" JJ asked as Reid nodded. "So who can go in there safely?"

"Only one character is missing," Reid said, his eyes slowly raising from the forest floor to look at JJ.

"Who?"

"Wendy."

Catching on JJ sighed. "Let me guess, talk to him like Wendy would?"

"JJ, Reid, what's the plan?" Morgan asked over the radio.

Reid talked fast and gave JJ directions on what Wendy would say, keeping it simple as the rest of the police force surrounded the clearing before she moved in.

"Peter?" JJ called out, trying to make her own voice sound lost and confused. "Peter?" she called again as she walked through last hedge and into the clearing.

Clemens and the boys looked at her, all their faces frozen in shock at her appearance.

"Oh Peter, there you are! Hook and the pirates have Tiger Lily down by the mermaid lagoon," JJ said, pretending to be worried.

Clemens was quiet as he assessed JJ. "At the mermaid lagoon?" he repeated.

"Yes, Peter, please. We need to send the boys to go after the pirates and you need to save Tiger Lily from Hook!"

"Wendy?"

"Yes, Peter?"  
>"Wendy! Where have you been?"<p>

"I went on a walk to think of new stories for tonight. Please, send the Lost Boys, Tiger Lily is hurt."

Clemens puffed out his chest, gripped the knife he had on his sheath and pulled it out, the long blade glinting in the sunlight.

"Let's go kill some pirates. Lost Boys! March!"

"Well, Pretty Boy, I've said it before and I'll say it again, thank god for you and that big brain of yours," Morgan said as he shut the car door on Clemens in handcuffs and turned to face Reid.

"Yeah, Reid, way to go. But next time, someone else gets to be the one to stare down the UnSub, okay?" JJ said teasingly as they walked over to shake hands with the police and the parents. Reid smiled at the joke and followed the team, waving his goodbye to everyone and smiling at the kids one last time before they left.

As soon as he turned to walk to the SUV that would take them all to the airport reality came back to him. Grabbing his phone he pulled it out and checked it, only to see that he had no missed calls or messages from anyone, let alone Chloe.

"Hey, you alright?" Morgan asked as they climbed into the car.

"Yeah, fine," Reid said. Everyone knew it was a lie. Reid was just glad no one called him out on it.

After the long flight home and the mountain of paperwork was finished Reid headed home, frustrated that his phone still had nothing on it and that his email inbox was blank. As he drove his mind wandered.

His mind was in Vegas with Chloe as he turned down his street, the seconds ticking by as the tires turned over the asphalt as he approached his home, turning to park when his headlights flashed over the front stoop and there sat Chloe, a small duffel bag at her feet.

Parking quickly Reid jumped out of the car and walked to the front stoop, his strides longer and steps faster and his heart racing.

"What's wrong?" Reid asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I was a bitch to you," Chloe said as she stood slowly. "You didn't deserve it, but I was freaked out about what had happened and I didn't want you to leave but I didn't want you sitting there watching me lose my mind."

"It's okay, Chloe."

"No, it's not. I shouldn't have said that to you. I shouldn't have made you leave."

Reid crossed his arms over his chest and chewed on his bottom lip. Chloe did the same, shifting her weight from side to side nervously.

"You know you could have called instead of flying out here when I wasn't home."

"My phone died and I left the charger at home. I only grabbed a few things," Chloe said as she kicked at the duffel bag.

They stood in front of each other, silent for a few more moments before Reid bent down and grabbed her bag. "Are you coming in or not?" He asked as he pulled his keys out of his bag and walked over to the door.

"Yeah," Chloe said as she followed, a small smile pulling at her lips.

AN: I'm aware that this may an anti-climactic end but honestly this story burned out in my memory and the ending I originally planned just didn't work out on the page. If I have disappointed you I am truly sorry. If you want more of this (an epilogue?) I will gladly oblige just please let me know in comments. However, if you are negative your requests and comments will be ignored.

Thank you all for sticking with me and this story.


	15. Chapter 15: Epilogue

Epilogue:

Weeks had passed since Chloe had been waiting on Spencer's doorstep and as he walked into the BAU the smile on his face only grew at the sight of his coworkers.

Morgan turned and gave him a knowing smile. "Hey there, Pretty Boy. Did you have a good weekend?"

"Yeah, I did. How was yours?"

"Can't complain," Morgan said smiling.

"It was too short," Rossi commented as he walked in behind Reid, bringing his coffee to his lips.

"We're just lucky the weekend was an actual weekend, not a Saturday morning phone call that interrupts the weekend," JJ added as she perched on the edge of Reid's desk.

"Amen to that," Morgan said.

Reid put his bag on the floor next to his chair and turned to look at the team, appreciating the fact that they knew when to ask him about his weekend and when to let him have the memories to himself.

Chloe still lived in Las Vegas but she was travelling back and forth to see him every few weeks. Reid wanted her here full time but he knew it would take time. Plus, it was an added comfort for Reid to have Chloe living so near his mother's hospital. His mother loved Chloe like a daughter and appreciated her visits along with Spencer's daily letters but he knew that one day he would have to make a decision between bringing Chloe and his mother here or he would one day be returning to Las Vegas.

Everyone knew they couldn't do this job forever, Gideon had proved that. Spencer knew that his job, aside from his loved ones, was his world and leaving it prematurely wouldn't be an option. He watched and half listened to his coworkers jokingly take bets on how many hours they had to get paperwork done before a new case came in.

"We should just have Reid do all the paperwork," Emily said smiling.

Reid knew, deep down, that Emily's time would be ending soon. She'd been struggling with the job since coming back, Reid knew how hard it was to return to the place that gave you hope and nightmares at the same time.

Emily smiled softly at him and Reid returned it with a bright smile of his own. He'd miss her when she left but at least this time he'd have a good chance to say goodbye. He knew that Emily wouldn't leave today, and probably not for a few more cases, she would need to feel like she'd done enough good here before moving on.

Who would replace her would be anyone's guess but Spencer knew that one day they all would be replaced. They'd all move on. Married, with kids, bachelors or bachelorettes, staying where they'd always been or travelling across the globe.

Spencer sighed as Hotch approached the group. "Time's up guys," he said. Everyone turned and groaned at Hotch's serious face.

"Nice to see you all too," Hotch said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "We've got a case."

"Where?" Morgan asked as they turned to go to the board room.

"St. Louis," Hotch said.

Reid took a seat and flipped open the file Garcia handed him. Yes, everyone would eventually leave the BAU but Spencer felt good knowing that they would all remain close and that he would have Chloe waiting for him.

"So what do we have this time?" Rossi asks opening his own file. He too seemed joyous. Happy. Reid wondered why but said nothing. They respected his life and he would respect theirs. The team was finally feeling whole again.

END


End file.
